Unidentified assailants have shot dead an Afghan policewoman in the militant-riddled southern province of Kandahar, local officials say. 

Local Afghan security officials said the female police officer, identified only as Fawzia, was sprayed with bullets in an area of the troubled province on Monday.

Security sources say the slain police officer had been working with the provincial passport department in the volatile region.

Afghanistan law enforcement agencies have launched an investigation into the assassination.

This comes as Taliban militants have stepped up their attacks against government officials, security forces and civilians across the region in recent weeks.

On March 9, at least eight people were killed in a string of coordinated attacks by the Taliban militant group against government offices in the southern Helmand Province.

Local security officials in Afghanistan have expressed concern about the country's security issues as the so-called fighting season with Taliban militants looms.

Each year, the season of spring and the melting of snow on the mountains along the border with Pakistan marks a significant upsurge in the fierce fighting between the Taliban and the Afghan forces.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed Taliban from power, but insecurity still remains across the country.

The US-led combat mission in Afghanistan ended on December 31, 2014. However, thousands of  foreign forces, mainly from the United States, have remained in the country in what Washington calls a support mission.